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LB 1039 
.H18 
Copy 1 



ERIE 





ON THE 




CHICAGO. 

XANAGAN. PUBLISHER 



^^ Ways and Aleans Series." 

H2 3. 



POINTS PICKED UP 



OR 



ONE HUNDRED HINTS ON THE RECITATION. 



^eeiK O. HALL. 






fsy 



CHICAGO: 

A. FLANAGAN, PUBLISHER. 



\ 



■«^ ^^IJx 



13 10^"^ 



Copyright 1S92. By A. FLANAfiAN. 



/Z -3Z(foo 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS PICKED UP 

ON 

nPHB RECIXATPION. 

1. Train the pupil to stand erect, hold his hand up, 
and to recite in a clear, and natural tone of voice. 

2. When the pupil makes an incorrect statement do 
not say " no " but sa}^ " why!" 

3. Let no answer pass, right or wrong, unless the 
pupil can tell ''why.'" Be the answer right or wrong the 
greatest benefit comes through the process by which he 
reaches the " 7t'//j'." 

\. Have a clear idea of the immediate purpose 
of the present recitation. 

5. Three objects of a recitation. 

1. To give the pupil new knowledge. 

2. To make knowledge already possessed 
clear. 

3. Application of knowledge obtained. 

(). Do not continue recitations beyond their regular 
time. 

7. Teach children to draw their own conclusions. 

S. Know thoroughly the lesson you wish to teach. 

9. One thing at a time according to its importance. 
Economize time. 

10. Ask definite questions. No leading questions. 

11. Ask the question before naming the pupil. 

5 



6 loo Points Picked Vp 

VI. Do not repeat the answer, require it from the pupil 
in a tone that may l^e heard by the entire class. 

\^\. Secure cheerful conversational tones, purity, dis- 
tinctness, right pitch, force and fluency. 

l-t. Require accurate and complete statements. 

15. Require precision. 

10. Do not waste time in long introductions. Recol- 
lect, there should be proportion of parts in every lesson. 

17. Let your teaching be varied, not only to keep up 
the interest, but, that b>' some means, you may reach every 
pupil's mind. 

18. In class teaching, every pupil must receive indi- 
vidual attention. 

19. Learn to detect by the appearance of your class, 
whether the children are in sympathy with, and following 
you or not. 

20. Practice all teaching devices — use none exclus- 
ively. 

21. vStrive earnestly to attract the sympathy and atten- 
tion of your class. Interest the children, and endeavor to 
take every one with you. 

22. Teach by precept and by example. 

2'i. A teacher should prepare himself for each lesson. 

24. Teach the subject, and not mere words. 

25. Drill — The children may recite a lesson A-ery well 
to-day, and in a week, not remember it. 

2(>. Do not recite for the pupil. 

27. Never tell the child, what you can make the child 
tell you. 

2«S. The teacher's time to talk is, when the lesson is 
assigned and explained. 



On the Reniatio7t. y 

29. The teacher should do as little talking as possible, 
during the recitation. 

30. Do not be satisfied with mere memorizing. 

31. True teaching consists more in the skillful assign- 
ment of a lesson, than in the hearing of a recitation. 

32. Incentives to attention : 

1. Curiosity. 

2. lyOve of mental activity. 
3- vSympathy. 

4. Love of praise. 

5. Fear of offending. 

6. Emulation. 

7. Appreciation of resulting benefits. 

33. Get the sympathy of your class. If your pupils 
are interested \\\you, they will more easily be interested by 
3'ou, in their lessons. 

34. The teacher must so understand his subject, and 
have his lesson so arranged, that he is conscious of no 
mental strain in teaching it. 

35. Do not ask questions in rotation. 

30. Do not point or look fixedly at the pupil you wish 
to give the answer, while asking a question: 

37. State the question to the class as a whole, then ask 
one member for the answer. 

3S. Do not wait an instant for the answer when rcv/nr- 
ing. 

39. Do not repeat a question to oblige the inattentive, 
but be sure to question those who are inattentive in the 
slightest degree. 

i(>. Never allow questions and answers to drag ; let 
them be quick, decisive and full. 



S loo Points Picked Vp 

41. Observe each pupil, in that his mind is neither 
wandering nor weary. 

VI. Make it your chief duty to wake up the pupil's 
mind. Keep at it till each pupil shows his mental activity 
by asking questions. 

43. Give the pupil time to think, after you are sure 
his mind is at work. 

44. Teach your pupils to ask themselves and others, 
"What?" "Why?" and "How?" 

45. Take 3'our position well h)ack from the class, so as 
to see every pupil. 

4(). Waste no time in beginning the recitation — Do 
not wait for disorder to creep in. 

47. Attention must be obtained principally^ by interest, 
manner, and work, it cannot be secured by mere exercise 
of authority. 

48. Allow the cla.ss to prepare topics and present at 
recitation ; discuss and correct them, and then use .them in 
reciting. 

49. Have a particular place in each class for each 
pupil. 

50. Assigning lessons : 

1. Let the length of the le.s.son, depend upon 
the age of the pupils, their qualifications, time for recita- 
tion and time for stud>' ; assign what can be reasonably 
expected of the pupil. 

2. vShort lessons but not too short. 

3. Do not assign hastily. 

4. vStudy it thoroughly, and give an average 
lesson to an average class. 



0)1 the Recitation. 9 

5. Make the next lesson so plain, that no one 
can say, '* I didn't know where the lesson was." 

6. Point out in advance the main facts of a les- 
son, so that time may not be spent on imimportant things. 

7. It is a good idea to write, on the board, a 
neat outline of the lesson to be studied. 

51. Have the class pass to and from recitation 
quietly. Use as few signals as possible. 

5'2. Make it a rule not to have the class ' ' talk the les- 
son over," and vSeldom break this rule. 

53. A teacher who requires the pupil to master the 
text book, and then spends all the recitation hour upon 
topics, that bear upon the lesson, but are not found in the 
book, although the pupil may not be able to answer the 
questions, or even see the relation between the facts 
brought out and the lesson, accomplishes results, that, if 
more common, would quiet complaints against the practical 
teaching of the common school. 

54-. For large classes : Number the pupils. — Send the 
odd numbers to the board or let them be writing at their 
seats, while the even number recite. Next da}^ let the 
order be reversed Let one set correct the other's work. 

55. For test : Ask questions that can be answered 
briefly and quickly. Require that each write the answer, 
directly or miss. Go on, rapidly, with the next question. 
Change, correct, and call for rapid reports. 

50. Make sets of cards on one side of each is a ques- 
tion and on the other side, the answer. The pupil reads the 
question and, if possible, answers it without turning it over. 
Encourage the children to form sets of cards, to study and 
question each other with. 



lo loo Points Picked JTp 

57. Reviews : In general, it is best not to turn the class 
back. If it is found that they are not "up" in the work 
gone over, prepare special exercises covering this. Refer 
them to places in the book where they may find the infor- 
mation, to aid them in preparing these exercises and, at the 
same time, give them a short lesson in advance. 

5.S. Review : — Prepare multitudes of questions on 
back work and ever}^ day, put some of them on the board, 
requiring the pupils to come up with the answers. This 
v^ill make a constant review without mentioning the dreaded 
term. Go on with the advance lesson as usual. 

59. Let the teacher appoint, early in the week, two 
pupils to prepare a question for each pupil of the school, to 
be answered on Friday afternoon. The questions may be 
in histor}^ grammar, oi* any branch with which the pupil is 
familiar. It is a good exercise, both for those who pre- 
pare, and those who answer. 

00. While children are doing written work, see as 
much of the work as you can. A correction made at 
the time, will be remembered by the child, when one 
made after he is done, has long been forgotten. 

Gl. Every child vshould learn something every day. 
He cannot do this if he is kept on a lesson he already 
knows. 

02. Children cheat at recitation because : 

1 . The work is too hard for them. 

2. They are slower than the rest of the class 
but do not like to be behind. 

3. They lack self-confidence. 

4. They are lazy. 



Ou fJir RfcUaiiop. .II 

<)*{. Every teacher should have hundreds of pictures 
mounted and graded. It comes very convenient in illus- 
trating the lesson, if you lia\e one that fits and if you have 
enough there is nearl}- always one 30U can use. 

KA. When 3'ou have little children talk about pictures, 
be careful not to put leading questions. This spoils the 
exercise for disciplinary effects. 

(»5. An essential condition for a good recitation, is good 
feeling between teacher and pupil. 

6C. Plan for some bodily movement in every recita- 
tion, if it is no more than promptly rising and setting, or 
passing to dv^ board. Children are often dull in class- 
work, simply because they are required to sit still. 

07. Allow the pupil to say all that he wishes to say on 
whatever subject he is asked to talk about. 

08. Use every legitimate means to awaken ideas in the 
minds of children. Get the children so they are willing to 
talk because they have something to ^2i\ ; then help them to 
sa>- it. 

(#9. Do not continue a recitation too long. Fifteen to 
twenty minutes in primary ; twenty-five to forty minutes in 
grammar grade. 

70. Do not suppose that detecting errors by the 
teacher implies the pupils correcting them. 

71. It is a mistake to make difficulties too simple. 

7*-. Have pupils stand while answering a question, or 
reciting in class, unless it is a rapid exercise and the entire 
class are requested to remain seated. 

7*1 Ask yourself every evening, 'Has order reigned 
during all my recitations ? In either case, to what can the 
result be attributed?" 



12 loo Points Picked I^p 

74. Ask yourself every evening, "What difficulties 
have I met in my lessons? Have I succeeded in sur- 
mounting them ? How?" 

75. Ask yourself ever}- evening, "Which of my les- 
sons has been the most valuable ? To what shall I attrib- 
ute the result ?" 

7(). Do not keep your class book open before you, and 
mark each pupil as soon as he finishes his recitation. 
They will soon think they are reciting for the grades, not 
for what the}' learn. 

77. The following is a good exercise, when your pupils 
are dull and need a little stirring up. Tell why the follow- 
ing words might suggest each other : Elephant, bannana ; 
bee, sugar ; cow, corn ; tiger, cocoa ; horse, potatoes ; frog, 
rubber. 

78. Say to your pupils, " We will have a school-room 
race. Every one whose written spelling is correct to-day, 
shall have his name placed on the black-board with a 
bright ink line beside it. Each day the lesson is correct an 
inch shall be added. The end of the board is the goal. 
Who will reach it first ?" If the class is strong in spell- 
ing but weak in arithmetic, let examples furnish the ground 
for the race, and so with any branch the school most needs 
to be brought up in. 

79. Do not require little children to stand up straight 
during a recitation ; least of all ask them to * ' toe the 
mark." How much better to let them gather, in a natural 
way, around the table and give their thought and attention 
to what is being taught, and not to tlieir own physical 
uncomfortableness. 



On the Recitation. \'S 

80. Give a few iiiiiiutes regularly, once a week, to 
reciting niiscellaneous facts about our own country. It will 
help the pupils in their reading, increase their power of 
oral expression, and intensify their patrioism. 

81. Do not give young pupils any, or much ' ' home 
work " to do. 

8'2. In history, geography and the sciences, the 
detached facts, as well as the truths involved in the sub- 
jects, when comprehensively taken, are best developed l)y 
using the topical method of recitation. 

83. Some teachers construe ' ' oral instruction ' ' to mean 
talking, therefore, explanations are given when none are 
needed, the pupil listens to the recitation and assents to the 
general facts at its close. 

84. No time Is lost in asking for the spelling of a word 
now and then in any recitation, and. moreover, a habit of 
observation will be inculcated. 

85. Brief, short recitations are the wisest as they insure 
plenty of time for each pupil to recite. 

86. Don't be afraid or ashamed of adopting the meth- 
ods of others. There is no copyright on good teaching. 

87. When words are spelled orally by your pupils, 
they should be divided into syllables and each syllable pro- 
nounced as spelled. The habit thus formed will aid 
greatly in pronouncing new words. 

98. Occasionally take the wrong side of a controverted 
question and put your class to all the trouble you can in 
their efforts to convince you. 

89. You cannot hear recitations and have pupils run- 
ning to you with questions at the same time. Never 
auswer questions when hearing a recitation. 



14 ' TOO Points Picked Up 

9(>. Use the pupiV s eyes. If interest in the recitation is 
beginning to flag, show the pupils something. Illustrate 
the work in some way, even if you have to change the 
designed order of your lesson, to make the illustration 
appropriate. 

91. Do not make the attempt to promote all the pupils 
of your classes. Every class has weak members. 

92. Hold frequent short examinations. 

93. Sometimes have your pupils correct one-another's 
papers. This saves yow work and does them good. 

94. Occasionally hold short, oral examinations with- 
out previous notice. 

95. Hold examinations at irregular periods. When 
the examinations occur at stated times some pupils will 
"loaf" during the interval and "cram" as the time 
approaches. 

96. Do not make examinations longer than thej- ought 
to be able to accomplish in a stated time, and when the 
hour is up, take up the papers even if unfinished. Give 
them time enough but allow no loitering. 

97. Do not promote on examination marks alone. 
Some of the brightest may be excited and fail. 

98. \Vliat the little ones can do : 

1. They can learn words and hunt out the 
known from the unknown works. 

2. They can use a pencil and learn to make 
words and figures. 

3. They can draw. 

4. They can copy spelling and 1 ^^ding les- 
sons. ^ 



On the Recitation. 15 

5. They can hunt for what they can see in 
pictures. 

6. They can count and combine numbers. 

7. They can listen to stories. 

8. They can tell stories. 

9. They can sing. 

o. They can enjoy recess. 

11. They can play. 

1 2. They can sit still for a short time. 

1)9. Don't talk, let your pupils talk. Don't ttill, let 
your pupils tell. Don't explain, let your pupils explain. 
If they cannot explain, it is because they have not studied, 
and they have not studied, probably, because they do not 
know how to study. This is your chance. Train them to 
study — notice we say train not shoiv. 

100. Examinations enable the teacher to test his own 
work, to see where he has failed. An examination reveals 
at once the pupils weak point and the defect in the teacher's 
work. 

101. Put a question to a pupil and call upon another to 
prove from the book the correctness or incorrectness of the 
answer. 

102. Put a question to the class and tell all who can 
answer to stand. Call upon one for the answer and then 
put another question and so on. 

103. But a question to the class and say that all who 
cannot ans\Ver may stand. One of the pupils seated ans- 
w^ere and so continue. 

104. In almost any branch a good change and one that 



1 6 TOO Points Picked Up. 

will always awake interest, is to let the class choose sides, 
as in the old-fashioned spelling match. 

lOo. Assign a topic occasionalh- on back work to a 
pupil that he must thoroughly work up and be able to 
tell all about. Give him time — say a week, to study the 
subject thoroughly. 



RKADING. 

1. Advance slowly but steadily. Do not keep a whole 
class on a lesson for a week aften ever>- child but one knows 
it " by heart." 

2. Question the class on what they read. Let them 
close their books and tell in their own w^ords the substance 
of the lesson. 

o. Do not allow hands to be raised for criticisms while 
the pupil is reading. 

4. Train your pupils to make criticism in form of 
questions. It calls out more active thinking on both sides, 
creates more interest and prevents criticism running into 
fault finding. 

5. Organize the older pupils into a reading club, meet- 
ing weekly or monthly. 

6. Vary your exercise as much as possible. Do not let 
each lesson be a repetition of the preceding. Read one 
word round to-day, to-morrow read till they make a mis- 
take, next day read a paragraph around, next day read in 
concert, etc. 

7. When your class has a new lesson call on some one 
to give an outline of the stor\- in his own words. 

8. Concert reading is good drill. It encourages the 
timid and holds back those who read too rapidly. vSelect 
short exercis'es for this. 

9. Teach the use of words, not the mere dictionary 

17 



1 8 TOO Points Picked up 

meaning, but the meaning that implies to the word as used 
in this particular connection. 

10. Select all the new or difficult words in the lesson,, write 
them on the board, have the class spell and give meaning. 

11. Have the pupil make sentences containing these 
words. 

Vl. Ask the principal and most important thoughts in 
the lesson and what the lesson intends to teach. 

ri Allow the pupils to look over the lesson for five 
minutes of the class time and askj'^/^ questions if thevftnd 
an\'thing that they have failed to understand. 

1-1. If you can read well, read for the child, occasion- 
ally. Show him how to read the sentence and make him 
imitate you. If there is a child in the class who can read 
better than you can (often there is) make use of him. 

15. Call on one pupil to read while all the other books 
are closed. Let the teacher and pupils pidiwe in their 
minds the vStory that is being read. Call for general des- 
cription of the picture and then the details. Compare pic- 
tures and praise those that best represent the author's 
ideas. 

10. Make two. or more divisions of the class and let 
each division write a transposition of a certain portion of 
the day's reading lesson. Let these then be read. 

17. Let the Fourth or Fifth reading classes take a second 
reader, occasionally, and read a lesson. This will give 
them a habit of reading fluently. 4i 

18. Before commencing to read a lesson, see that the 
class know who is the author and hear what they can say 
about him, then add to their knowledge what }OU know. 



0?i Rcadhig. " 19 

19. In teacliing reading, remember that ideas from the 
Hps of the teacher, seem very different from the same ones 
in the printed ones. 

20. If you need a reading l)ook in the class, have one 
of your own. Do not take a pupil's book from him and 
compel him to twist and wriggle around trying to look on 
another boy's book. 

21. Have the pupil see a phrase or short sentence, then, 
raising his eyes, talk it to you. 

22. Require correct pronunciation of lists of new and 
difficult words from the lesson. 

23. Call out proper expression by skillful questioning. 
2-I-. Have pupils frequently copy the reading lesson and 

read the copies in the class. 

25. The teacher reads a story to the class, after which she 
selects words from the story and writes them on the board. 
The next day the pupils must be prepared to give oral 
sentences using one of these words as the emphatic word of 
each sentence. Then the sentences must be written ; Then 
the story must be reproduced, using as many of these words 
as can be woven into the story naturally. 

2(>. Bet the class come to the recitation without books. 
The teacher has in readiness suitable selections with which 
he is entirely familiar and has previously determined the 
minimum time which a pupil of that grade ought to have 
to obtain the substance of the paragraph he puts into his 
hands. The teacher gives a paragraph to a pupil and says, 
"one minute " or "two minutes" as the case may be. 
The pupil in silence studies the paragraph for the allotted 
time, then closes the book and gives in his language th^ 
substance of the portion read. 



20 loo Points Picked Up 

27. Let the pupils come to the class with a selection 
unfamiliar to the teacher that the}' have agreed upon among 
themselves. The}' must read it so well that the teacher 
understands it perfectly. 

'28. In taking up a new reading lesson it is a good plan 
to have the pupils go over the lesson and check all the new 
and difficult words. Then have them spell these words, 
looking on the book. 

20. Another — Beginning with the last word in the les- 
son have the pupils pronounce backwards, and rapidly. 

80. Commencing at the last word have the class pro- 
nounce two words in concert, then the teacher pronounces 
the next preceding word then the class the next two and 
soon. 

81. The pupil may read a paragraph or a sentence, 
then the class may repeat it in concert, the teacher saying 
to ths class *' Mary or John " as the case maybe " may 
lead." 

8*2. The speaking, or, even the reading of dialogues, is 
a material aid in securing natural expression. 

83. For exercise in sight-reading, occasionally carry 
into the .school a good story book, newspaper, or new 
reader, and from that let each pupil in turn, read a para- 
graph while the others listen. ; 

84. Have the pupils classify the words of the lesson in 
alphabetical order in reference to the first letter of the 
word. 

85. Have them classify the words of the lesson as to 
parts of speech they are, writing nouns in one column, 
verbs in another, and so on. 



On RcadiuQ;. 21 

30. Have the pupils write sentences containing" the 
words at the top of the lesson. 

37. Do not scold your pupils because they do not know 
how to spell the words in their lesson wdien the fact may be 
that they cannot pronounce the words with their books 
open. 



ARITHMETIC. 

1. Tlie teacher often deceives himself concerning his 
pupils' thoroughness in mathematics. Test them often by 
written examinations or l)y i)rol>lems not found in the 
book. 

*2. Arithmetic is a definite study. There is no doubt 
al)out the work. The pupil either knows or he does not 
know. 

i^. Teaching time of day : Get an old clock, if you can, 
if not make a dial out of a piece of pasteboard and pieces of 
tin for hands, then practice telling the exact time. 

4. Send a pupil to the board ; read a problem, let him 
begin work, but soon call another who must take his 
place as promptly as the change can be made ; then soon 
call another, and so on. The object is to keep the sharp 
attention of the entire class, no one knowing but he ma}' 
1)6 the next called. All, both at the board, and .seated, 
mus/ do the entire work. 

5. The farmer's boy who can return home from .school 
and calculate the amount due on his father's note, without 
the aid of his book, is the one who commends our school to 
the community. 

(i Teach your pupils to make change. Place some 
amount as 50 cents or^i.oo on the board, then call for 
jHipils to give results, deducting for purcha.ses specified. 

7. Put on the l)oard gioups of numbers and have the 

22 



On Arithmetic. 23 

pupils add silently and tell how nian> tens and units in 
each group. 

8. Make the work practical. See that the older pupils 
know how to measure lumber, land, wood, grain and write 
notes, receipts, bills of account, etc. 

9. It is an excellent idea to cut up two or three 
arithmetics, not in use in the school, paste the problems 
upon stiff manilla paper or pasteboard and use as judgment 

dictates. 

10. Do not require many definitions in the first year's 
work in practical arithmetic. It is the ability to solve and 
analyze problems that are needed. 

11. In teaching fractions, first teach the processes in 
working with fractions and make them familiar with them 
in solving practical problems, then present the why of the 
process as simply and plainly as possible. 

VI. A valuable exercise in arithmetic is that of having 
pupils state how a problem is solved without actually per- 
forming the solution. 

13. Rules in Arithmetic are only rationally taught by 
having the pupil solve examples under these rules, guided 
by the teacher, step by step. 

14-. If your class are not quick and accurate in addition, 
take some time each day for drill in rapid mechanical 

work. 

15. Simple problems are best to illustrate principles. 
Children reason best upon small concrete numbers. 

10. If there are any in the class who were not able to 
solve certain problems, send them to the board with their 
problems and some pupil who can get it with them to act 
as teacher. When these pupils have mastered their prob- 



24 loo Points Picked l^p 

lems let them help others to do the same ones they have 
been helped on. 

17. Use a separate book for mental arithmetic bnt teach 
mental and written arithmetic together. 

18. Require pupils to bring to class for inspection at 
least one problem neatl}^ arranged upon paper. 

19. Let pupils imagine themselves merchants in any 
line of business they may choose and make out bills, etc. 
in regard to it. They must write out each problem care- 
fully and obtain a correct answer before they give them to 
the class. 

20. The place for multiplicity of examples is the class- 
room. They are needed here lor practical test. This can 
be secured only by examples they have not studied, and 
which they are to solve in the shortest practical time. If 
any considerable number are not reasonabh' successful in 
this class work, another day's drill on principles and study 
of class book with its examples will be needed. 

21. Be careful not to cumber the mind with many 
methods, as for example, in interest we should present the 
method which the experience of business men has settled 
upon as the practical one, no matter how elegant, theoretic- 
ally, other methods may be. 

22. In the fundamental rules there must be an immense 
amount of drill. Oral drill in combining numbers continued 
for weeks and months. Drill from charts and black- 
boards. Private vStudy and practice. Rapid drill and so 
on. 

23. In interest it is very desirable that the teacher 
should be provided with actual written notes in sufficient 



On Arithmetic. 55 

number to supply the class several times and for several 
days. 

24. It is a ver}' imperfect test of a pupil's ability that he 
is able to solve in class the particular examples that he has 
brooded on for hours in his study. 



GEOGRAPHY. 

1. Drill exercise : Let a pupil say. '' I think of some- 
thing that begins with — , ' ' giving geographical name. The 
one who succeeds in giving the name must spell it correctly 
and locate it. Then he in turn gives an initial letter and 
so on. 

2. Send a pupil to the board. He begins drawing a 
map as of a river or state, talking all the while, describing 
what he is drawing. Soon another is called who must 
jump to take his place and go on with the work with the 
least possible break. This exercise demands strict atten- 
tion from the entire class. 

3. Have the class stand. The pupils in turn give 
some geographical name and tell for what worthy of mention. 
Any pupil who fails to give one may be seated. If an in- 
correct statement is made the class may call out ** wrong " 
in concert ; if a name is repeated they may say "given," 
and the pupil be seated. He who stands longest wins. 

4. Draw a map of a base ball ground, showing the dif- 
ferent positions and bases. 

5. Be sure that your pupils understand /iow to sfnc/j' the 
map before you expect them to answer questions from it. 

(). Have a pupil spell a geographical name. The next 
one spells a name whose initial letter is the same as the 
final of the word last spelled, and so on. He who fails to 
respond promptly is seated. 

26 



On Geography. 27 

7. MuvSt uf our maps are overloaded. A map for the 
school-room should coutaiu oul}- what the children are to 
learn. If 30U cannot get such a map, make one on the 
board or on manilla paper. 

(S. In map-drawing, teach through the map and not 
for the sa/ce of the map. 

1). An inferior sketch quickly made is better for jmr- 
poses of recitation than a finely executed map which has 
consumed time. 

10. Review scheme: — vSuppose you have V)een .study- 
ing some state, as New York. You say to one pupil you 
may represent New York, City, to another you may repre- 
sent Albany, you Brooklyn. You try and so on until all 
the class are supplied. Then tell the class that the map 
may be represented upon the floor and that 3'ou want them 
to stand in proper positions for the cities they represent. 
Then call the cities one by one and as each takes its place 
let the class criticise. 

Then ask questions such as New York, which direction 
are 30U from Buffalo? Albany, how far are 30U from 
Brooklyn ? Saratoga, you may take a piece of chalk and 
draw the Hudson river, etc. 

11. Another — Take some slips of card board and 
write the names of the natural and manufactured products 
of a section, as the eastern and middle states. Spread an 
outline map on the floor (you may draw it there if you 
wish) and have the pupils to place the productions in their 
respective places. Thus, the slip, containing the word 
" butter " in south-eastern New York ; the work " luu 
ber" in northern Maine ; cotton goods at I^on-ell, etc. 



HIvSTORY. 

1. Have variety in your methods. 

2. Thinking is more important than remembering. 

:i. The best way to begin the study of history is with 
a series of biographies. 

4. Chronology is not history. 

5. A good outline or plan of the lesson is better than 
questions for advanced classes. 

(). Epochs, men, and women should receive a large 
share of your attention. 

7. Striking events should be vividly pictured to 
awaken interest. 

8. Pupils should write historical abstracts and l)io- 
graphical sketches for compositions. 

9. Recitation for review : — A pupil stands and des- 
cribes a historical character with whom the class should Ije 
familiar, giving events in his life but withholding his 
name. As soon as a pupil guesses the name he raises his 
hand and gives it. . If right he takes the floor. 

10. The character may be described as above and 
those raising hands may be allowed to ask questions of the 
one standing so that the description may be further de\el- 
oped and the dullest may finalh^ see who is meant. 

11. Ask a question and let the one whose hand appears 
to be up first, answer it, and if correct let him ask a ques- 

- ' 28 



On History. 29 

tioii and again the one whose hand is first up, answer and 
so on. 

VI. Do not dictate answers to be committed to memor\- 
but assign questions and let pupils prepare answers by 
reading their histories. 

Ifl Questions should not relate merely to isolated 
facts or dates, they should compel a comparison of facts and 
exercise the pupil's judgment. 

14. Home history reading helps. 

15. In teaching both history and geography write on 
the .blackboard every proper name used for the first time. 
Let the pupil copy. One or two may spell it orally, some- 
times let them write the names. Reserve two or three 
minutes at each recitation for the spelling of proper names. 

10. The class stands. The pupils name in order 
some early explorer or divScoverer and gives the rea- 
son that made his name famous. Any child failing to 
remember a hero whose name has not been mentioned must 
take his seat. If an incorrect statement is given the class 
say in concert, " Wrong." If a name is repeated the class 
sa5% " Given." 

17. Draw maps — routes of discoverers: battles, with 
location of opposing forces ; campaigns, with lines of 
march ; acquired territory, with location of acquisition, 
date and cost. 

1(S. Name a date, call upon a pupil to give an event cor- 
responding. Reverse. 

19. Give a noted saying, prefacing by, "By whom, 
when and where was it said ?" 

*}S). Teacher being prepared with a list of nick-names 



20 TOO Points Picked I ^p 

of noted men, ask f(jr reasons wliy they were given ; or, 
ask, " Who was?" (giving the nick-name.) 

*21. Write on the board a number of questions, answers 
of which may be found in the history lesson and when 
the pupil tliinks he has his lesson learned he may close his 
l)ook and test himself by writing out the answers. If he 
sees upon opening his book and correcting the work that 
he has failed at all, he must go to work again. This often 
cures the pupil of the habit some have of saying they know 
their Icssoii wheii their knowledge is imperfect. 



LANGUAGE. 

1. No subject should be written about, that the pupil 
cannot talk about easily, naturally and fluently. 

2. Easy talking should precede correct talking, but 
correct talking should procede easy writing and {^as]' writ- 
ing must precede correct writing. 

^i. The moment there is a parrot-like air in a child's 
language work, change the method. 

4-. Have the pupils play a game at recess, then when 
they come in write an account of it. 

5. In teaching composition insist upon your pupils using 
short words and sentences. They are more easily under- 
stood, more expressive and forcible. 

(>. Dictation exercises should be given often, to every 
grade except the lowest primary. The chief value of these 
lies in the correction of the work. Let the pupils correct 
each his own or exchanging. Correct spelling, capitaliza- 
tion, punctuation, etc. 

7. Conundrums. — Tell each pupil to write a conun- 
drum and let every one whose conundrum is right at first 
or after it is re-written give it to the class, after it has been 
corrected and call on different ones to answer. A conun- 
drum requires quotation marks, an interrogation point, 
and one or more capitals .so it furnishes good drill. 

8. The best composition work is that which grows out 
of the school work as naturally as the branch grows out of 
the trunk. 

9. Giving a stanza or paragraph, requires pupils to 
cla.ssify all words found in it. 

10. In a given stanza or paragraph require classifica- 
tion of all phrases : for classification of all clauses. 

11. For review drill in grammar, let the clnss choose 
sides. Write a stanza or paragraph on the black-board. 

31 



32 Ton Pohits Picked Up 

Require each pupil to prepare teu or more writteu questious 
suggested b}- the quotation for the next day's recitation. 

At time appointed, let divisions take their places on oppo- 
site sides of room. Let number one in division A, propose 
one of his questions to number one of division B ; if ans- 
wered correctl3^ then number two of B gives a question to 
number two of A ; but if B misses, A answers his own 
question and B takes his seat ; if A misses his own question 
he takes his seat also. 

This can be varied by allowing them to choose across. 

12. In a given stanza or paragraph, what rules of 
syntax are required in parsing the nouns ? Give an 
example of each. 

13. In a given stanza require the classification of all 
adjectives, adverbial, and objective elements. 

14. In a given stanza require the infinite forms of the 
finite verbs. Call for principal forms in the same way. 

15. Ask pupils, where possible, to change the verbs in 
sentences to the opposite voice. 

l(j. Endeavor to have pupils ready to prove the cor- 
rectness of all statements they make, referring to their 
books if necessary. 

17. Literary Guess Work : — Let the teacher select some 
character in friction or some author and tell three things 
about him. Then each pupil may ask some question that ■ 
can be answered by "yes" or "no." If some bright 
pupil has in his mind the name do not allow him to 
announce it immediately, but rather, b}^ close questions 
help the slower ones to see it. 

18. Have the pupils write a telegraphic despatch not 
exceeding ten words and containing three distinct > state- 
ments. 

19. Pupils may write for their county paper a short des- 
cription of a serious accident of which they are witnesses. 

20. In an advance class in grammar let the pupils take 
turns in putting sentences of their own composition or 
selection on the board for the class to analyze and parse. 



Busy OF Seat Wofk 

FOR LITTLE PEOPLE. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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teacher of little children. 

Here are 40 pages of 



that will . . supply piipils 
ivith employment that will 
occupy head and hands ; that luill lead pupils to ob- 
sej'Z'e closely; lead pupils to be inventive ; and, best 
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pupils something to do. 

There are suggestions and devices enough to last 
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The price of this pamphlet is fifteen cents. . . It 
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